marți, 28 februarie 2017

Mosul caught in 'strange and terrifying' battle as Islamic State foreign soldiers fight to the end

Reuters

Feb 28, 2017

By Isabel Coles MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - The families cowered in
basements, huddling in the dark as war raged overhead between Iraqi
forces and Islamic State militants fighting for control of the streets
of Mosul. Above ground, soldiers from Iraq's Rapid Response division
move from house to house through the same openings Islamic State
militants smashed through the walls in preparation to defend their last
remaining stronghold in the city's west. The passageway led them through
living rooms and gardens, into a kitchen with a pot of lentil soup on
the counter -- the scenes of domesticity highlighting the chaos of war
that is intensifying as Iraqi forces advance. "It's strange and
terrifying," said a young woman who was barely visible in the gloom of a
basement under her house in the Josaq district, where she went into
hiding after giving birth to a baby girl 72 days ago. Read More

As ISIS Prepares Its Terror Resurrection, Watch Out for Drone ‘Swarms’

PARIS—The
terrorists have new toys, and they’re letting the world know. As Iraqi
troops backed by U.S. warplanes and special forces keep pushing into
Mosul, the so-called Islamic State is fighting back with its own air
force: commercially available drones carrying small explosive payloads.
It’s that multiple drones hitting simultaneously can be used to disrupt
and demoralize the enemies of ISIS, and not only on the battlefield, but
in the cities of Europe, and perhaps even in the United States.
Georgetown University’s Bruce Hoffmann, author of Inside Terrorism,
sketches a very grim scenario: “Picture Paris on November 13, 2015”—the
night when people were slaughtered at a rock concert and in sidewalk
cafés—“with drone attacks superimposed on top of it.

Twitter
is in an uproar over a photo of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway
sitting on a couch in the Oval Office with her feet tucked under her and
her shoes on the sofa.

The Wrap

The Latest: Trump signs order loosening gun restrictions

The
Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 7:10 p.m. President
Donald Trump has signed a resolution blocking an Obama-era rule that
would have prevented an estimated 75,000 people with mental ...

Associated Press

US Air Force general describes how the F-35 would take on China's J-31 competitor

At a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies conference, US Air Force General and...